Barclays Private Equity (BPE), the buyout arm of Barclays Bank, is set to rebrand as Equistone Partners Europe by mid-autumn.

The new name is expected to coincide with the first close of BPE’s initial €1.5bn fundraiser, which will be followed by its formal spin off from Barclays Bank.

A company called Equistone, which was incorporated in December, is registered at BPE’s offices in St Paul’s Churchyard, London, according to Companies House. Two people with knowledge of the situation said they expected the first close of Equistone General Partner IV within the next three months.
One source said the firm had secured an appropriate website address.

BPE declined to comment.

BPE has been a strong performer in recent years. It has invested €5.2bn in 206 deals since 1996. BPE has also generated a 2.7-times return on invested capital and a 39% gross internal rate of return (IRR) on 139 realised deals, according to a summary it released last year. Its three funds in aggregate have generated a 3.2 times multiple and 59% gross IRR on 37 fully realised deals.